What are your favorite holiday treats? Christmas, Hanukkah, it’s-cold-outside, whatever you do or don’t celebrate, what do you anticipate eating that is special to this time of year? Of course, your baked treats are of greatest interest to yours truly, but soups, stews, etc. are always welcome. Nostalgic treats, annual traditions, I want to hear ’em all!

Share your yums in the comments and on Sunday eve I will pick one random winner who will get a $25 Cosmos Vegan Shoppe gift certificate! Treat yourself to a present this time of year and peruse their awesome store to drool over their fabulous vegan goods. Even if you don’t win, you should totally still buy yourself a present from Cosmos. For realz. You’re worth it.

This picture is terrible, but it sure hit the spot. It was my lunch today, courtesty of Whole Foods deli. Some sweet potato cakes (made with sweet potatoes, quinoa, brown rice, onions, cranberries and herbs), veggie stuffing and cranberry sauce. Seriously, salty stuffing and cranberry sauce are the only things I need to be happy at Thanksgiving. Keep the pumpkin pie and pass me the casserole dish. kthxbai

For my random drawing of the week, I picked the sneak peek post of cake pictures and the lucky commentor was #10- Jodye! Jodye, I’m going to send you an awesome set of mesh, reusable produce bags for you to fill with deliciousness!

And, as an aside, I’ll put the “news” I was alluding to earlier in the week here. This affects nothing in regards to my blog, except perhaps a serious lack of decent posts for a couple of weeks, but Jim and I are leaving Portland. We’re not going far, we’re moving down to Eugene. When a job opportunity knocks, sometimes you gotta go with it. I’ll miss PDX, but it’s only a 2 hour ride away. Besides, this puts us in the land of YUMM!

Portland is known as the land of food carts. You literally can’t pass an unused parking lot or street corner without tripping over one. You think it would get old- I think it’s heaven.

For most people from other parts of the country, the idea of eating out of an old airstream, a renovated Roach Coach or a bus sounds unappealing. That is, until you eat food made by amazing chefs with good sense- the overhead is low, they are still held to the same health code standards as standard restaurants and they are much easier to start up, and from there decide if they really want to have a restaurant. The food carts in Portland are so amazing, I literally would be content if I never stepped foot in a regular restaurant again (with the exception of my beloved BL, of course).

The food carts I’m featuring here aren’t neccesarily new to the Portland scene, quite the contrary in most cases, but they are some of my favorites and I had pictures of their food on my phone. So there. 🙂

Flavour Spot not only wins for having an awesome vegan waffle sandwich (a crisp waffle stuffed with vegan sausage and schmeared with maple cream), they get extra points for spelling “flavour” with a “u”. They have three locations in Portland, with their Old Town location having night time hours. Excellent.

Los Gorditos, the famed Portland Mexican food truck (and now a brick and mortar restaurant as well), with an exhaustive vegan menu, has the best Mexican food I’ve ever had. My favorite item is the Tofu Bowl, which is actually a large plate (go figure), full of seasoned tofu chunks, creamy refried beans, rice, lettuce, tomatoes, soy sour cream and avocado. It’s served with piping hot corn tortillas to use to scoop up the magic mix. They also do things with soy curls that make your eyes roll in the back of your head with pleasure.

If you think you like falafel, you don’t know anything until you’ve had Wolf & Bear’s. This cart is run by two folks of Israeli descent. I’ve never been to the Middle East, but I have heard from many a credible source that this falafel is the best they’ve ever had in the US. Everything about it is mind-blowing- from the flavorful falafel patty (which is flat rather than in round balls, making it much easier to eat and allowing for falafel-maximizing bites), the fresh pita, the hummus, the tahini, the caramelized onions and grilled pepper and eggplant to the little mix of olives and Israeli pickles (cured in salt brine, not vinegar) on the side. When eating at Wolf & Bear’s, Jim and I can’t even speak, we are so intoxicated with our food. Sadly, the cart owners close down for the soggy winter months, alas, there will be no falafel until next spring. Bummer, but worth the wait.

Lucille’s is a newer cart in Portland, in the Good Food Here pod (a pod is a congregation of carts, like an outdoor food court but much more delicious). While the vegan options are limited, they are awesome. This is food cart food you can feel good about eating. The idea is this: pick your balls, pick your sauce, with your base and chow down. I like the sweet potato/spinach balls with coconut curry sauce over polenta. SO GOOD. It’s also served up with a little side salad, which has a tasty viniagrette with a little kick to it. Also in the Good Food Here pod is Kitchen Dances, which is run by Piper, formerly of Proper Eats. They also have great food (including raw options!), but alas I have no pictures.

What are other people’s favorite food carts? I realize I didn’t add Whiffies or Potato Champion, which are good and enormously popular, but I’m just not much of a fried food person.

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And now, for this week’s MoFo winner- the post I picked from was my post on healthy baking and winner was lucky commentor #5, Lizzie! Lizzie, in honor of my fun interview with the fabulous Celine, you win a copy of 500 Vegan Recipes!

Wow, so the first week of Vegan MoFo is rolling to a close. So far, so good! There has been lots of amazing food to look at and I’m discovering so many new-to-me blogs! That’s what it’s all about, right?

So, restaurant posts seem like a bit of a cop-out. Which they are. But, if you want someone’s opinion on a restaurant, it’s really nice to read blog reviews, right? Please excuse the poor quality of the pictures, as my camera on my phone is less-than-spectacular.

First stop is Dick’s Kitchen, in SE Portland. This is a newer restaurant that has cropped up in the space next to Laughing Planet, a space that is owned and operated by Laughing Planet, but has cycled through four different eating establishments in the past 4 years. It’s got a mod-retro diner feel and specializes in burgers. I’m usually pretty “meh” about that sort of thing, but a friend mentioned that they serve vegan milkshakes. Veggie burgers, fries AND vegan milkshakes? Okay, I had to go.

the aforementioned crappy cell phone pic.

I had a tempeh burger with BBQ sauce, some fries and a chocolate milkshake, which was made with Coconut Bliss, an extra special treat. I wasn’t entirely won over, but I will go back and try something else on their menu. My particular meal was good, but not overwhelmingly so, although I love the fact that they make everything from scratch. Any by everything, I mean everything. Ketchup, pickles, BBQ sauce, etc. Very cool.

Although this makes me come back to a point that I’ve often wondered: is it possible to get a vegan milkshake that’s actually thick? Like straining-to-suck-through-the-straw thick? They are always so runny and smoothie-like. Sip does a pretty good job, but when I see vegan milkshakes on the menu, I am often let down.

Moving on to other noms: Back to Eden. If you’re a Portlander, BtE is now a Portland staple, fa ormer wholesale bakery turned NE Portland bakeshop/cafe. We stopped in for a bite on Halloween night and ended up with these beauties.

A gluten-free chocolate cupcake with orange cream frosting. One of the things I love about their buttercream (a thing I am notoriously picky about) is that it’s just right. Not crunchy with an overkill of sugary sweetness, but not bland, leaving an oil slick in your mouth (I’m talking to you, Saint Cupcake). Smooth and sweet, the way buttercream should be.

A butterscotch pudding tart. Don’t you love the little chocolate spider’s web? This was phenomenal and had Jim and I fork sparring for the last bite. Yum.

And now, for the Vegan MoFo week 1 giveaway winner! Each week I’m picking a random post and giving away a random prize to a random commentor. This week I happened to pick the post that has the prize in it: the garlic post! The winner is, none other than our lovely, preggers Leigh! Leigh, you pick whether you want the rubber peeler or the Zoom and it’s yours, baby mama.

*The winners are: Abby, Tracy, Hope, Aimee and Amanda! I discovered I had 5 coupons, all good for 1 free Nasoya item so yay for you guys! Email me your addresses and I’ll pop them in the mail!*

There is such a thing as too much of a good thing. That good thing right now is cake.

Oy.

With cooler weather on its way and the desire eat heartier foods pulling at me, I’m also feeling the need to take a step back and freshen up my palette. My recipe for recalibration = fruits and veggies, and lots of ’em!

Breakfasts have consisted of monster green smoothies which easily stick to my ribs and tide me over until lunch with a little scoop of hemp seeds. Lunch varies between salads, soups, stews and veggie chili. Dinner, we’ve been keeping light with yummies such as this:

Mexican spiced beans with sauteed bell pepper and onion and a healthy blob of guac in a crisp leaf of lettuce. Oh, guacamole-topped-anything, how I love thee.

When we don’t feel like cooking, one of my favorite places to eat (besides Blossoming Lotus, for whom my heart burns bright), Jim and I journey across the river to Prasad, which shares the Yoga in the Pearl space which BL once held. “Prasad” is a Sanskrit word meaning “holy food” and this place pretty much nails it on the head. They have that whole natural-meets-gourmet thing well worked out and some of our favorite dishes to turn to are of the raw pasta variety. If you’ve never had raw pasta before, behold:

Above is my favorite, the Love Pasta. Zucchini noodles, adorned with hemp pesto, some greens, tomatoes, carrots and a cashew cream sauce that is mouthwateringly fabulous. They even cap it off with a darling carrot heart. Aw…

Above is the Sea Ceasar Pasta, zucchini noodles coated in a seaweed spiked Ceasar dressing, with some cucumbers, raw kale and carrots tie it all together. Creamy and delicious, Prasad knows their raw pastas. Sorry that the pictures don’t do more justice to the food, as they were from my phone.

I HAVE to get one of those spiral cutters for zucchini, it’s just amazing the kind of noodles it makes! I am experiencing some serious raw food envy, between the amazing food that I get here and my raw foodie co-worker, who is always telling me about her latest adventures with her dehydrator. Ah, vegan eating… And people think we’re deprived… 🙂

What kinds of things do you like to eat when you’re trying to clean up your act? Or if you’re just a raw/whole foods lover (as I suspect most of you are), what are your favorite treats or meals? The fine folks at Nasoya have gifted me with some coupons for 1 free item and they have some yummy products to tickle your tastebuds. On Friday I’ll randomly pick 3 lucky people to get these coupons (US only again, sorry), so leave a note with your healthy eating suggestions!

Women do not have to sacrifice personhood if they are mothers. They do not have to sacrifice motherhood in order to be persons. Liberation was meant to expand women’s opportunities, not to limit them.
~Elaine Heffner

No, Martha is not vegan. Nor are her cookbooks or show terribly vegan-inclined (although searching “vegan” on her site will turn up quite a few articles and recipes). And I know it’s all the rage to hate on her, but I don’t care: I still love Martha.

Say what you will about her time in prison, because we all make mistakes, and the rest of us are lucky enough to not deal with them publicly. No one is perfect, but one mistake (a mistake that didn’t hurt anyone) shouldn’t define a person’s legacy.

Now, I’m not a hardcore devotee, tracking and subscribing to her whole empire of awesomeness. But I do subscribe to her Living magazine, own a couple of her cookbooks, and I have purchased some of her cooking accessories at Macy’s (my favorite spatulas ever!), but I don’t watch her show or keep tabs on much.* But I admire her very much, and here are a couple of reasons why:

1. When many women were running from domesticity, Martha stood in the kitchen with her head held high. I know people who strongly feel that women who do anything “domestic” are turning their backs on liberation and woman’s rights. Martha not only held close to those domestic activities, she made them hers. I consider myself a feminist with three different-sized cookie scoops.

2. Martha is a self-made woman. She’s never been to culinary school. Or design school. She simply had a passion and talent and ran with it and it took off. Because of that, people have labeled her many things (demanding, a bitch, etc.). This is what happens when you shake up the good ol’ boys club. Martha is one of the richest and most powerful business women in the US. You don’t get that far and create such an enormous brand without being assertive and sticking to your guns. Last time I checked with the opposite sex, this was called good business sense, not bitchiness.

3. Martha makes everyone an artist. There are a good amount of people who think they have no creativity. There are also people who think that because they aren’t Picasso or Bob Dylan that they aren’t an artist. Martha has opened up the public eye to see everyday living as something creative. Whether your art is making a wholesome dinner, handmaking invites to a party or decorating your house, there is art to be celebrated everywhere. I’m not saying she invented this concept, but she certainly popularized it. Everyone needs to have an outlet.

4. I pray that when I’m 68 I’ll be that cool. Sure, she has a staff who scouts out trends, but she also has the ability to decide that they should be focusing on quilting with gingham rather than pursuing hip new crafters or vegan cupcake decorations. Sorry gingham, you lose.

5. When your name becomes an adjective, you know you’ve arrived. “You’re being so Martha!” Or “Oh I’m feeling very Martha today!” Like it or not, the woman has defined a certain sense of do-it-yourself chic.

Anyone who knows me know that I’m far from being a terribly conventional or girly-girlish. Actually, people who know me also know that I tend to shy away from things that have mainstream popularity, so my outpouring of love is uncharacteristic (and no, no one is sponsoring this post.) But I love cooking and canning and I pretend that I love crafting (even though I’m too lazy and have no attention span for it). I love how popular these things have become again. It delighted me when I went to the store this summer and they were sold out of canning jars because it meant the people were making their own food. I love going to Crafty Wonderland and seeing the awesome creations that people are selling. And look at all of us and our food blogs! There are a good many things that have contributed to this surge, so to say it’s all Martha is unrealistic, but you can’t deny what a trailblazer she has been. Go Martha!

What do you think of Martha? Leave a comment and 3 lucky winners will be randomly picked for a copy of my cookbook (with nom! buttons, of course). Winners will be drawn on Friday the 9th. I’ll send them where ever on Earth you are, so get commenting!

*full disclosure, I do follow her on Twitter. But I suck at maintaining Twitter and god knows she doesn’t actually update it, so it doesn’t count. 🙂